An Introduction To The Politics Of The Indonesian Union Movement

“In this most significant contemporary study of Indonesian trade unions and the broader working class, Max Lane provides a concise and informed examination of the practical and ideological challenges of incipient labour organizations engaged in political and popular struggles in an underdeveloped nation. This detailed and highly informative book evokes similar historical and comparative struggles of exploited workers worldwide and is indispensable for students of labour movements in the Global South.” —Immanuel Ness, Professor of Political Science, City University of New York, author of Southern Insurgency: The Coming of the Global Working Class

In few Asian countries is organized labor so important an economic and political factor as in contemporary Indonesia, and in few countries of the world has it been so politicized. Yet, thus far very little serious research and writing has been concerned with the Indonesian trade unions. Consequently the Cornell Modern Indonesia Project is pleased to publish this pioneering study by Iskandar Tedjasukmana. It would be difficult to find anyone better qualified to undertake it, for he served as Minister of Labor in three different Indonesian cabinets: the Sukiman Cabinet (April 27, 1951 - April 2, 1952); the Wilopo Cabinet (April 3, 1952 - July 31, 1953); and the Burhanudin Harahap Cabinet (August 12, 1955 - March 27, 1956). In addition, he was from 1951 to 1956 Chairman of the Political Bureau of the Labor Party. From 1946 to 1956, except while Cabinet Minister, he was a member of the Indonesian Parliament, serving from March, 1947, to August, 1949, as Vice-Chairman of its Working Committee. - George McT. Kahin, October 31, 1958

In Workers, Unions and Politics. Indonesia in the 1920s and 1930s, John Ingleson revises received understandings of the decade and a half between the failed communist uprisings of 1926/1927 and the Japanese occupation in 1942. They were important years for the labour movement. It had to recover from the crackdown by the colonial state and then cope with the impact of the 1930s depression. Labour unions were voices for greater social justice, for stronger legal protection and for improved opportunities for workers. They created a discourse of social rights and wage justice. They were major contributors to the growth of a stronger civil society. The experiences and remembered histories of these years helped shape the agendas of post-independence labour unions.

The first analysis of how Indonesia's labor movement overcame organizational weakness to become the most vibrant in Southeast Asia.

In the 1990s, Indonesia’s independent labor movement re-emerged after decades of repression. The revival was led by students and NGO activists, who organized industrial workers and spoke on their behalf. Workers and Intellectuals explores how these middle-class activists struggled to define their place in a labor movement shaped by a history of fierce debate about the role of nonworker intellectuals. Drawing on extensive interviews, Michele Ford documents the contribution made by NGOs and student groups to the resurgence of labor activism, explaining how activists and workers perceived their roles and how the situation evolved in the decade after Suharto’s authoritarian regime crumbled in 1998. This fine-grained study of labor organization in a developing country will appeal to scholars of labor history, politics, and sociology, as well as Indonesia specialists.

The book has eleven chapters, mostly by Indonesia-based analysts, plus a couple of wise old hands. Max Lane's overview chapter is excellent.

"This collection provides a powerful and sophisticated analysis of how environmental movements influence politics in Asia, and how politics influences movements." -- John S. Dryzek, Centenary Professor, University of Canberra "This important book reflects the challenges and questions currently foremost in scholars', activists' and policy-makers' minds-the Anthropocene, environmental justice, China's Belt and Road Initiative, and post-politics-all addressed through the lens of environmental movements in Asia. -- Jonathan Rigg, Professor at the School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol "How have authoritarianism, democratization and political change affected environmentalism in East and Southeast Asia? How have environmental mobilization and demands for environmental justice at the grassroots influenced politics there? These are among the vital questions answered by this insightful and well-crafted volume." --Paul G. Harris, Chair Professor of Global and Environmental Studies, Education University of Hong Kong "This book shows convincingly that the concept of Anthropocene is as relevant in Asia as anywhere." -- Philip Hirsch, Emeritus Professor of Human Geography, University of Sydney "Despite its claims to universality, the Anthropocene concept remains largely a Western phenomenon. This book is crucial in correcting this view by putting environmental movements in Asia center stage." -- Eva Horn, Professor of Literature and Cultural History, University of Vienna